[Off-Topic] Community Chat Thread

[Lifeless]

Ok now I'm having an existential crisis about how to pronounce Necropotence, a card name I've been saying out loud for nearly 30(!!!) years. Thanks.

[Guardman]

Ok now I'm having an existential crisis about how to pronounce Necropotence, a card name I've been saying out loud for nearly 30(!!!) years. Thanks.

Please, I am having an existential crisis about whether I have been pronouncing omnipotence and impotence wrong.

[Lifeless]

I was 14 when Necro got printed. I'm not sure I knew about omnipotence or impotence at the time.

[kirkusjones]

They are above the law, because Necropotence should be pronounced similarly to omnipotence or impotence, but it's not. And. I. HATE. It.

How is it pronounced? When I was a kid, I thought it was neck-rop-o-tents (phonetically) but now I say nec-ro-po-tents, with long o's in the middle syllables. Although if I say it without thinking about it, the first o is more of a schwa sound, like the o in dragon/wagon. Great. There goes my afternoon.

EDIT - how do y'all pronounce "necromancy" and "necromancer"?

[duducrash]

@RxPhantom
"Im about to wreck this whole forum, watch me"

[Hermes_]

well now it's official #MTGruinedforeverd

[RxPhantom]

Ok now I'm having an existential crisis about how to pronounce Necropotence, a card name I've been saying out loud for nearly 30(!!!) years. Thanks.

Please, I am having an existential crisis about whether I have been pronouncing omnipotence and impotence wrong.

They are above the law, because Necropotence should be pronounced similarly to omnipotence or impotence, but it's not. And. I. HATE. It.

How is it pronounced? When I was a kid, I thought it was neck-rop-o-tents (phonetically) but now I say nec-ro-po-tents, with long o's in the middle syllables. Although if I say it without thinking about it, the first o is more of a schwa sound, like the o in dragon/wagon. Great. There goes my afternoon.

EDIT - how do y'all pronounce "necromancy" and "necromancer"?

Ok, so in keeping with words like omnipotence (om-nip-uh-tuhns) and impotence (im-puh-tuhns), it is my staunch belief that Necropotence should be pronounced 'ne-krop-uh-tuhns.' Instead, the official pronunciation is 'nek-ro-poh-tens.' This has bothered me for decades now, but...

English is a lawless, messy stew of other languages, so in response to @kirkusjones: 'nek-ro-man-see' and 'nek-ro-man-ser.' But then necropolis is 'ne-krop-uh-lis' and necropsy follows the same pattern.

Regardless of English's wild inconsistencies, I will die on the hill of Ne-Krop-Uh-Tuhns.

@RxPhantom
"Im about to wreck this whole forum, watch me"

I didn't plan to, but I will by God.

[kirkusjones]

@RxPhantom English is definitely a lawless mishmash and teaching it to children for whom it is not their first language is a daily challenge. It forces me to confront the inconsistencies and exceptions, causing my brain to seize up as I seek to understand why nation is nay-shun, but national is nash-in-ul.

As for necropotence, omnipotence and impotence, I think the sound of the vowel in the second syllable is more of a schwa sound (like the o in dragon, what we describe to the kids as a "lazy vowel") than long or short o. Necropolis is just applying English pronunciation to a Greek word, which never was meant to follow our dumb spelling rules anyway.

EDIT - Also, for your pronunciation of necropotence to work, the c needs to go with the n and the e in the first syllable, otherwise you end up with nee-krop-uh-tuhns.

[Guardman]

Ok now I'm having an existential crisis about how to pronounce Necropotence, a card name I've been saying out loud for nearly 30(!!!) years. Thanks.

Please, I am having an existential crisis about whether I have been pronouncing omnipotence and impotence wrong.

They are above the law, because Necropotence should be pronounced similarly to omnipotence or impotence, but it's not. And. I. HATE. It.

How is it pronounced? When I was a kid, I thought it was neck-rop-o-tents (phonetically) but now I say nec-ro-po-tents, with long o's in the middle syllables. Although if I say it without thinking about it, the first o is more of a schwa sound, like the o in dragon/wagon. Great. There goes my afternoon.

EDIT - how do y'all pronounce "necromancy" and "necromancer"?

Ok, so in keeping with words like omnipotence (om-nip-uh-tuhns) and impotence (im-puh-tuhns), it is my staunch belief that Necropotence should be pronounced 'ne-krop-uh-tuhns.' Instead, the official pronunciation is 'nek-ro-poh-tens.' This has bothered me for decades now, but...

English is a lawless, messy stew of other languages, so in response to @kirkusjones: 'nek-ro-man-see' and 'nek-ro-man-ser.' But then necropolis is 'ne-krop-uh-lis' and necropsy follows the same pattern.

Regardless of English's wild inconsistencies, I will die on the hill of Ne-Krop-Uh-Tuhns.

Yeah, that's completely different than I pronounce them. The way I do is the same way I say Necropotence.

Necropotence (Nə-Kro-Po-Təns)
Omnipotence (Am-Ni-Po-Təns)
Impotence (ɪm-Po-Təns)

Also I just realized the schwa (ə) on Nexus looks a lot like an 'a'.

[Toshi]

Now tell me, how do you pronounce Sean Bean?

[kirkusjones]

Now tell me, how do you pronounce Sean Bean?

Shawn Bean. My brother's name is Sean, it's the Gaellic variant of Shawn/Shaun, which follow the English spelling convention. Don't try to apply rules or patterns to names, that way lies madness.

[duducrash]

The same way I pronouce the Chinese name Xian

[Toshi]

Don't try to apply rules or patterns to names, that way lies madness.

Yeah, that's what i was implying.
Neither is he Shawn Bawn nor is he Sean Bean if that makes sense.

[RxPhantom]

@RxPhantom English is definitely a lawless mishmash and teaching it to children for whom it is not their first language is a daily challenge. It forces me to confront the inconsistencies and exceptions, causing my brain to seize up as I seek to understand why nation is nay-shun, but national is nash-in-ul.

As for necropotence, omnipotence and impotence, I think the sound of the vowel in the second syllable is more of a schwa sound (like the o in dragon, what we describe to the kids as a "lazy vowel") than long or short o. Necropolis is just applying English pronunciation to a Greek word, which never was meant to follow our dumb spelling rules anyway.

EDIT - Also, for your pronunciation of necropotence to work, the c needs to go with the n and the e in the first syllable, otherwise you end up with nee-krop-uh-tuhns.

That's how I would've laid it out too, but I was getting those phonetic pronunciation things from dictionary.com, so I deferred to them.

Yeah, that's completely different than I pronounce them. The way I do is the same way I say Necropotence.

Necropotence (Nə-Kro-Po-Təns)
Omnipotence (Am-Ni-Po-Təns)
Impotence (ɪm-Po-Təns)

My mind boggles!

[kirkusjones]

Gotta love that even in the same language there aren't standard conventions. Dee-lite-full.

[Lifeless]

Long O gang for life.

[kirkusjones]

Does anyone have eyes on @DirkGently? The levels of pedantry in this conversation should have drawn him to the thread like a cartoon character to a pie on a window sill.

[RxPhantom]

A few things while we're on it:

Rancor rhymes with anchor.

Garruk is not pronounced 'Guh-rook.' Please stop saying it like this, lest my ears rot and fall off.

[Dunadain]

I'm disappointed people aren't as frustrated about the arbitrary spaces in mtg names.

I always hoped there was some underlying rule that I just hadn't picked up on, kind of like how I just learned last week why the colors on dual lands are placed left to right in the order that they are (it's inconsistent with WUBRG, which bothers me, but at least there's SOME logic to it), but I feel like Cliffgate petty much confirms that the spaces are completely arbitrary.

[kirkusjones]

I'm disappointed people aren't as frustrated about the arbitrary spaces in mtg names.

I always hoped there was some underlying rule that I just hadn't picked up on, kind of like how I just learned last week why the colors on dual lands are placed left to right in the order that they are (it's inconsistent with WUBRG, which bothers me, but at least there's SOME logic to it), but I feel like Cliffgate petty much confirms that the spaces are completely arbitrary.

With how unintuitive and downright confusing some rules interactions are based on sentence construction and location of punctuation, you really think the people at WOTC adhere to logical conventions? There are Secret Lairs to print. UB collabs to chase! No time for your silly spacing. Their bottom line does not care for your desire for logic or consistency, only your dollars.

[kirkusjones]

A few things while we're on it:

Rancor rhymes with anchor.

Garruk is not pronounced 'Guh-rook.' Please stop saying it like this, lest my ears rot and fall off.

It's too late for you. Welcome the madness. Let it flow through your veins and unlock your true potential as the greatest troll this site has ever seen.

[TheGildedGoose]

I'm disappointed people aren't as frustrated about the arbitrary spaces in mtg names.

I always hoped there was some underlying rule that I just hadn't picked up on, kind of like how I just learned last week why the colors on dual lands are placed left to right in the order that they are (it's inconsistent with WUBRG, which bothers me, but at least there's SOME logic to it), but I feel like Cliffgate petty much confirms that the spaces are completely arbitrary.

Sea Gate
Sea Gate, Reborn

[Dunadain]

I'm disappointed people aren't as frustrated about the arbitrary spaces in mtg names.

I always hoped there was some underlying rule that I just hadn't picked up on, kind of like how I just learned last week why the colors on dual lands are placed left to right in the order that they are (it's inconsistent with WUBRG, which bothers me, but at least there's SOME logic to it), but I feel like Cliffgate petty much confirms that the spaces are completely arbitrary.

Sea Gate
Sea Gate, Reborn

Right, all of the other gates have spaces, just not Cliffgate.

[TheGildedGoose]

I'm disappointed people aren't as frustrated about the arbitrary spaces in mtg names.

I always hoped there was some underlying rule that I just hadn't picked up on, kind of like how I just learned last week why the colors on dual lands are placed left to right in the order that they are (it's inconsistent with WUBRG, which bothers me, but at least there's SOME logic to it), but I feel like Cliffgate petty much confirms that the spaces are completely arbitrary.

Sea Gate
Sea Gate, Reborn

Right, all of the other gates have spaces, just not Cliffgate.

They're from different planes, though. That bothers me more.

[DirkGently]

Does anyone have eyes on @DirkGently? The levels of pedantry in this conversation should have drawn him to the thread like a cartoon character to a pie on a window sill.

Sorry, I've been busy inventing the COOLEST FICTIONAL MAGIC SYSTEM OF ALL TIME.

I will not be taking questions at this time.

Honestly reading through the posts I'm mostly just increasingly frustrated that nobody is making any indication which syllable they're putting emphasis on. That's, like, 60% of the utility of writing out phonetics.

NEC-ruh-poh-tense
om-NIP-uh-tense
IMP-uh-tense

That's how I pronounce those words.

I don't really care that much if someone else pronounces necropotence differently, but that's how I've heard almost everyone pronounce it.